Review – Mine Games

Young people in horror/thriller movies are always lambs to the slaughter. Most of the time the experience may be a satisfying roast in the mind of the audience but ‘Mine Games’ is the mutton.

While visiting a holiday residence in the forest a group discovers an abandoned mine shaft with dark secrets within.

There is an interesting idea at play in ‘Mine Games’ that tries to blend supernatural, psychological and mythological elements together. Sadly, the film is overconfident with how clever it’s trying to be and becomes completely nonsensical and repetitive.

A parade of bad teen horror/thriller clichés are on parade throughout ‘Mine Games’ starting with a group of dull yet good looking characters who are all well deserving of the fate that awaits most of them. It’s warranted that people make bad decisions in a movie of this nature but the idiocy of this young group almost permits the film to be renamed Bad Idea: The Movie. None of it is played badly on purpose, director Richard Gray is taking it seriously, and in moments that are meant to provide chills the only result is laughter. The performances produce more awkward giggles as the film descends further into farce.

Most of ‘Mine Games’ is set underground and instead of dark eerie cave environments; it looks like the inside of a backyard shed shot through a full bottle of milk. There is a strange white haze over the film that makes it hard to see anything. The foreboding shadows that should be scary become white pillars of nothing.

‘Mine Games’ is not worth the plastic to occupy a DVD; it’s direct to YouTube at best.